New South West Region MEP Molly Scott Cato announced her resignation from Stroud District Council at the council’s Annual General Meeting on the 5th June, effective from 1st July when her mandate in the European Parliament starts. This will lead to a by-election in the town’s Valley Ward.
Molly Scott Cato said: “I want to thank the people of Valley Ward who chose me to represent them as a councillor and helped me get elected to Europe. It’s been a joy and a privilege to serve on the District Council and I look forward to doing more for the good of Stroud people through the European Parliament.”
Molly was elected as a district councillor in 2011, and in 2012 led the local Greens into a constructive cooperation with Labour and the Liberal Democrats. Throughout her term as a district councillor she has strongly supported the ongoing fight against inappropriate housing development on Baxter’s Fields in the Slad Valley.
Molly has served on Stroud District Council’s Development Control Committee, Strategy and Resource Committee and at time of resignation was also Chair of the Audit and Standards Committee. She secured £100,000 in funding to support local food businesses, farmers and growers – an achievement which will create more jobs and further stimulate the local food economy. She has supported the farmers market, campaigned for a living wage and the Robin Hood tax, for reasonable train fares and has spoken out against fracking, the cruelties of the bedroom tax, and the threat to democracy that is the trans-Atlantic trade agreement.